Friend Zone- Side Story to The Second Daughter
by Rainbow Haired Girl
Summary: Aranduriel comes to the Woodland Realm and makes a choice all of her own. She is putting Legolas right into the friend zone because she has no feeling towards him whatsoever. This kind of goes along with The Second Daughter, but it can be seen as it's own one shot as well. This is just a side shot really, but could stand on it's own too.


Friend Zone

Rainbow Haired Girl

Summary: Aranduriel comes to the Woodland Realm and makes a choice all of her own. She is putting Legolas right into the friend zone because she has no feeling towards him whatsoever. This kind of goes along with The Second Daughter, but it can be seen as it's own one shot as well. This is just a side shot really, but could stand on it's own too.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit, but I do own Aranduriel.

Authoress Note: This was requested as a gift and I have to admit that I really enjoyed writing this one shot. It was kind of different for me to write such a side shot. But it was worth it that is for sure. I guess I am good at writing this, but I am not sure on that. I did have fun writing this for sure. It made me think of the different side of Aranduriel that no one really gets to see unless she gets upset about something or is willing to make a point. A point that needs to be known. That is what she is going to be doing in this one shot. Hopefully I do get more shots like this. It made me really think when I was writing it and I spent most of the night writing it seeing the fact that I had a hard time sleeping and I decided to post this before I actually got busy with working for my dad. Since at the moment that is the only place that I can pick up the internet. Hopefully my net will be up soon and I'll be able to post more on the site before I lose myself in the world on non-internet. I am nothing without my readers and with their comments. You my readers mean the world to me and that my fanfics aren't going on without no cause. Ok enough of my rambling. Without further ado. Friend Zone.

Friend Zone- Side Story to The Second Daughter

Aranduriel fixed her hair carefully. She was trying not to ruin the braids that she had put in her hair painstakingly for over a half hour to get them to fit in just right. She was there in the Greenwood with her brothers, Elladan and Elrohir. What ever this was she was not sure. Her father hadn't given the information of why they were there, but it concerned her.

Aranduriel didn't know what to do. She was here in the Greenwood to talk to Thranduil about something important. She wasn't sure of how this was going to work out. She was afraid what this meeting with Thranduil was going to entail this time. She looked in the full body length looking glass. She was wearing an ivory gown that had bronze in the middle of it. Her hair was done back in a few beautiful braids holding her circlet in place. She closed her eyes when she heard a knock on the door causing her to turn her head. She went towards the door and opened it slowly.

Her twin brothers stood there waiting for her. Both of them smiled at her. "We are glad that you chose that dress sister." They both said together with cheeky smiles. They had been acting weird since they had arrived there.

Aranduriel raised her eyebrows. Something was off here. Neither one of them usually didn't smile cheeky smile unless they were up to something. She couldn't help, but wonder what they were up to. "What are you two up to?" She questioned, not sure if she wanted to know the answer that her twin brothers had. She was concerned about her brothers. They had been off the entire time. It was like that this meeting with Thranduil was important and was probably going to ruin something really great. She wasn't sure yet.

The two brothers looked at one another and hadn't said a word to her. Which was fairly odd for them. They always talked and them being silent was not a good thing.

"Thranduil is waiting for you." Elrohir said with a grin. He finally spoke up which had put Aranduriel at somewhat of ease, but something was still off.

Aranduriel shook her head. "I suppose he wants to speak to me now."

"Yes, dear sister. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting." Elladan said gesturing with his arm meaning that Aranduriel needed to hurry or Thranduil would most likely send someone to get her that was not going to be too kind in bringing her to him. He was protective of his little sister. He would never allow someone to hurt her. They would have to answer to the twins.

Aranduriel let out a soft sigh and gripped onto the necklace that Thorin had given to her. It had been a year since she had heard what had happened to Thorin and his people and hadn't heard a word on his whereabouts. It concerned her that he might have had passed away. It broke her heart that she didn't know what had happened to her friend.

Sometimes she wondered if something else would have happened if they had stayed in touch, but there was nothing that she could do. There was no point in holding onto a dream. Something that would remain dead forever. She knew that she would never get the chance to ever see him again. Unless it was by fate. She hoped that maybe one day that she would hear word. She would do everything in her power to make sure that Thorin would once again be able to grace the halls of his people again if he was given that chance to do so.

She then nodded her head and moved past her older twin brothers. She had been here once before with her father and had overheard the two elf lord talking about something that would change her life forever. She hated the fact that her father and Thranduil were expressing that their children should be together. Even though she was much older than Legolas ever could be.

Hell she didn't know the elfling until he was 100 years old and that was in the year 1100 Third Age. She had been a lot older than he was by quite a few years. Which didn't seem to bother Thranduil in the least bit.

The two elf lords pushing this upon them was something that neither of them or at least she thought was something that neither one of them had wanted due to the fact that they still hardly knew one another. They had only met a few times during this time. This was perhaps the fourth or fifth time that they were meeting again. There would be no chance in marriage. At least she could only hope that this was going to prove to be so.

The first meeting was something that she was not expecting. Legolas had been too polite towards her. For Valar sake he kissed her hand and let his lips linger too long on her thin hand. Which disturbed her way too much.

The second meeting had gone the same way. Which disturbed her a lot more than what she had let on. She would not ruin her father's reputation. It was something that she would never do to him.

The third meeting was nothing that she could remember and sadly she was happy that she didn't remember it. The only thing that she remembered was being hit with an apple. Legolas had thrown it at her and ended up getting into some trouble for it.

Now this meeting was hopefully going to go a lot different. But she wasn't meeting up with Legolas just yet. She was meeting up with his father first. Which made her nervous to say the least. She hated meeting up with just Thranduil. The last time that she had met up with Thranduil didn't go according to what her father had wanted.

She had gotten into a verbal spat with Thranduil which embarrassed her father greatly. Which she had not meant to do. Thranduil was overstepping his bounds when it came to the young princess of Rivendell. He didn't deem what was going on wise. Which in turn caused her to be the little fireball that her father known very well. And she hadn't meant to be such a spoiled brat.

But Thranduil had brought up the fact that she shouldn't be going with her father to the Lonely Mountain. That was two years ago. A year before it had fallen. She had gotten into a verbal fight with him saying that she was not an elfling. She was going to meet Thror and learn more about dwarvish culture. It was something that she enjoyed greatly. It gave into her thirst for knowledge.

A knowledge that she wanted to know. After all her father was a smart elf. Which in turn moved onto his children. All she wanted to do was learn as much as she could about dwarves and what better way to learn and be right in the mountains learning everything that she possibly could about the secret dwarves. She had even met two new friends. Which she would cherish for the rest of her life if they were still alive.

She nervously gripped onto the skirts of her ivory gown as she walked up the pathway leading up to the throne room. She could only hope that this meeting with Thranduil would be a lot different than what it was the time prior which didn't end well at all. She could only hope that Thranduil would not bring up something that would send her back into the fireball stage that he hated so much. But it was something that she did to protect herself from problems that Thranduil always put her into and she always got out of it by doing what she did.

Thranduil was dressed in silver robes. His crown was off of his head and put in some place that it could be fixed. He had broken part of it accidentally and it needed repaired. His face was calm and voided of all emotions at that moment. Right now he was calm as calm could be.

He was waiting for Aranduriel to show up. It was one of the things that he hated doing. Waiting for Aranduriel to show up was something that he hated doing because he knew if it got bad enough for the elleth she would run.

His fingers ran across the wooden rails that lead up to his throne. He hoped that Aranduriel, the daughter of Lord Elrond would not take that long to arrive in the room. He wished to speak to her about an important matter.

Legolas stood nervously next to the stairs. He was afraid of what might happen this evening. He was afraid that Aranduriel would run if she was given the chance to do so. "Father…" Legolas said looking over at his father. He couldn't help, but be nervous of what his father was going to ask the elven maid that was going to be meeting up with them shortly. He knew that his father wished to speak to her about a betrothal. He already knew that Aranduriel was going to fight it with whatever power that she had. Legolas knew that Aranduriel would see him nothing more than a little brother. Which he was kind of worried about since he had seen her as much more than that.

Thranduil looked at his son. "Legolas what is it?" He questioned his son. He wasn't sure of what his son was going to ask him. But he had an inkling that it was to deal with what was going to be talked about shortly once the elleth arrived. He wanted the best for his son and Aranduriel fit that place. Aranduriel reminded himself so much of his former wife who had passed away when Legolas was born.

In fact his wife and Aranduriel had been friends when Aranduriel was a young elleth of 100 years old. Quite young to be making friends with the Queen of the Woodland Realm. His wife, his pride and joy and the woman that he lost when Legolas was born. He didn't want to admit it to his son that he missed his wife dearly since she had passed away, but there was nothing that was going to fill that void. Perhaps if grandchildren would be involved perhaps he would be able to begin healing his broken heart.

"Are you certain that she is going to agree to this?" He asked nervously. He wanted to make sure that his father was certain that he was right about this. He was afraid of how Aranduriel was going to react to what was about to happen. And he already didn't like the plan and how it was going to blind side Aranduriel and he knew that Aranduriel hated being blind sided.

Thranduil should have known that his son's fears were growing with how long that they were waiting for Aranduriel to show up for this talk. Maybe he needed to clear his son's mind of the fears. "Son there is one things about the half-elven that you must understand. They can either be immortal like we are or mortal like men and dwarves. I wouldn't want her to make the wrong choice in choosing a man or dwarf. You are the best choice for her." Thranduil said with a nod of his head.

He clearly thought that Aranduriel was going to make the choice of being with Legolas. He didn't want Thorin stepping into the grounds that would cause more problems between elves and dwarves. He had heard the stories from Lord Elrond of how his daughter had acted when she was around Thorin. He had heard that Aranduriel had acted more alive when she was around the dwarven prince.

And that was something that he would not allow. He had spent too much time of trying to get Legolas and Aranduriel to like one another. He would not allow his efforts go to waste thanks to a 25 year old dwarven prince. Someone that most likely hated him more than anything else in the world at that time due to the fact that he would not allow himself lose his people in dragon fire.

He heard soft footsteps. "Come out of the shadows, Aranduriel. I know you are there." He knew by the way that the walk was that it was Aranduriel. He knew that she was afraid of what might become of this meeting and the lass had nothing to fear of what was to come. He knew that Aranduriel would make the right choice. Or at least he thought he knew.

The dark haired elleth came out of the shadows. Her hands were white due to how hard she was gripping the silk like fabric of her ivory and bronze gown. Her heart rate had picked up when her eyes landed on Thranduil.

She couldn't understand how the elf could change in such a way that she didn't even know who he was anymore. He had grown very cold hearted and that was the elf that she hated. She missed the old Thranduil who was more in love with life when his wife was still alive. She didn't know if Thranduil blamed Legolas for his wife's death or not, but it was something that she would not blame Legolas for.

Legolas saw the look on Aranduriel's face and knew that she was scared. He wasn't sure of what, but perhaps it was because of his father. The last meeting that he knew of hadn't gone as well as Thranduil had planned. This concerned Legolas more than he let on. He was afraid of what Aranduriel was going to do if Thranduil had made his point permanent.

"You wanted to see me my lord Thranduil?" She said softly. Her voice was smoother than velvet and it made Legolas's heart skip a beat. Did she even know what she was doing to him? No, perhaps she didn't.

"Ah yes, Lady Aranduriel I did wish to see you. Please come closer." Thranduil said with a smile. The very smile that made her think that he was up to something and indeed he was up to something. But whatever it was she was beginning to fear it.

Aranduriel came a little bit closer, but not too much. She still feared of what he was going to say. Her white hands were on the ivory and bronze skirt of her dress. They were turning even more white as she moved closer to Thranduil. What ever it was that he was going to say she was going to be more than prepared to run if she had to. She knew that her brothers would not be pleased with her if she decided to run.

Thranduil looked her over with a smile. He had to admit that she looked more beautiful this time than she had the last time. No wonder that they called her the fire star of her people and not the evening star of her people. She was nothing like her sister Arwen. Her sister was proper and Aranduriel had a fire in her that only in his mind that Legolas had deserved. "I am sure you don't know why you are here Lady Aranduriel…" He knew that Aranduriel had no inkling of what was going on and he wanted to make sure that she known soon what the intentions were of having her there. He was going to force her into the marriage if she didn't agree to marry Legolas.

Aranduriel nodded her head slowly. It was true, but she had an inkling that it was something to do with a marriage that she did not want. She wanted to marry for love and currently she was not in love with Legolas. Not with anyone to be in fact. Nor did she think that she would be falling in love with anyone anytime soon. "What is it that you wished to speak to me about King Thranduil?" She asked softly. Her blue-grey eyes locking with Thranduil's blue eyes.

"About your engagement to my son." He said proudly to her. He noticed that her face fell. He thought that she would be pleased with being with his son. What was wrong with this girl? She was the best match for Legolas. She and Legolas complemented one another.

He had seen it all from a distance. He knew that they were different than night and day which to him was like how he and his wife was. They were both very skilled warriors. After all Aranduriel had gone with her brothers to bring back their mother when she had gone missing. That fueled the young elleth's hate for orcs. It was clear to him that they would be able to work together.

Legolas saw the look in her eyes. He knew that look fairly well. He had seen that look in her eyes before. He knew that she was going to run. And run away fast. He didn't know what she was going to do at that moment. It was either that or she was going to stand her ground against his father.

Aranduriel took a deep breath through her nose. She could not believe that this was happening. That Thranduil was telling her that she was to marry his son? No, no, no. That would not happen. Not in a million years. Not even a thousand years. Her blue-grey eyes met with Thranduil's blue eyes. "No." She stated.

"What?" Thranduil said locking his eyes with hers. He couldn't believe what she was saying. She was telling him no? He couldn't believe that she was saying no to a marriage proposal from his own son. This was something that Elrond and him had been planning for years. He hoped that she would accept the marriage proposal. But it didn't happen. She was flat out telling him no. "What do you mean no?" He demanded. His ire was beginning to grow.

Aranduriel felt a shiver go down her spine. Her blood began to turn to ice. This was something that she was afraid of when it came to Thranduil. Oh why couldn't he be the same Thranduil he had been when his wife was still around. He wouldn't bring something up as stupid as this. Not in the least bit. He would allow her to choose her own path. After all he had seen her as a daughter at one point. She didn't know what had changed from that time until now. But she didn't like it.

Aranduriel ran her hand through her loose black hair and let out a soft sigh. "I mean no, King Thranduil. With all do respect my lord." She bowed her head slightly. "Your son Legolas and I are only friends. I have no romantic feelings towards him." She told Thranduil the truth. She really didn't have any feelings towards the young elven prince. He still had much to learn in her eyes and there would be no way that a relationship would grow out of that. he still had quite a bit of growing up to do.

"You will learn to love my son." Thranduil said in a demanding tone. He was not about to let this pass the two young elves by. Love was something that was uncommon to find. Feelings yes, but love would take forever. This was something that would bound the two elven kingdoms together. Something that would bound them together in alliance. Her saying no was causing a problem for the both of the kingdoms. He looked at his son.

He couldn't understand why she was saying no. He knew that his wife would not be pleased with this, but he was doing what was best for the kingdom. It didn't matter what Aranduriel thought or let alone Legolas. He wanted what was best for the two of them. "Give her your gift my son." Thranduil told his son with a strict nod of his head.

Legolas took a deep breath. He reached into his pocket and his fingers touched something cool and metal. He pulled it out and looked at the silver metal. He knew that there was no way that she would accept it willingly. Not the way that his father had wanted. He ran his fingers over the silver metal ring. The design was something that he designed himself in hopes that Aranduriel would marry him. He knew that Aranduriel would not marry him.

Aranduriel looked at Legolas with wide eyes. She looked at Thranduil. "I am sorry Thranduil. I cannot marry him." She shook her head. She moved closer to Thranduil and put her hand on his robed arm. She could only hope that he would not pull away from her.

Thranduil glared at the dark haired elleth. How dare she say no to him still. It wasn't like he was asking her to marry him. He waited for her to finish what she was telling him.

"I do not love your son. I only see him as a friend. I want to marry for love and I don't think that you want a free spirit as your future queen of the woodland realm." She said softly. It was true. She was too free spirited to be a queen. There was no way that Legolas was even going to calm her down and settle her into the life of being a queen. "Wouldn't you want your son to fall in love on his own?"

Legolas looked at Aranduriel with wide eyes. Only she could get his father to see the side of the life that he wanted. Yes, he wanted to be with Aranduriel, but knew that he would never be able to be with her. She didn't love him the way that he loved her. Perhaps what he felt towards her was more admiration and not love.

Thranduil felt his ire raise more. He would not allow her to make a fool out of him. "You will not make a fool out of me." He growled out at her. So far the dark haired elleth was making a fool out of him.

Aranduriel scoffed and crossed her arms. "No, the only person that is making you a fool is yourself. I will not marry your son. He should have every right as an elvin prince to fall in love on his own. Not being forced to marry someone that he still hardly knows." She turned on her heels.

How dare she say that. He was not making a fool out of himself. She was doing everything in her power to not say yes to Legolas's proposal. Perhaps her time with the dwarvish prince had tainted her more than what Lord Elrond was letting on. "Do not walk away from me. You will accept my son's marriage proposal." Thranduil growled at her even more. He was not about to allow her to walk away from him. She would marry his son regardless of what she wanted to do. He would have a wedding in his lands. His son would be happy and so would she. He was not going to give her much of a choice of marriage.

Aranduriel looked over her shoulder at the Great Elven King. A sad smile came to her lips. She knew that this would end this way. Thranduil was not accepting her decline of his son's marriage proposal. "Tell me Thranduil woodland king. Did you not fall in love with Legolas's mother?" She questioned. She already knew the truth. She knew that Thranduil had fallen in love with Legolas's mother. "I already know the answer. Yes, you did fall in love with her. Shouldn't you allow your son to do the same? Don't push him into something that you would not put yourself into." She walked down the stairs towards the room that she was staying in. She was not going to allow Thranduil get away with anything. Not something like this.

She slowly walked towards her room. Her arms crossed underneath her bust. Dealing with Thranduil was something that she was not expecting. At least dealing with him in this frame of mind was not an easy thing to do. She knew the stories and didn't know what was true and what wasn't. But she knew one thing Thranduil was not the same man that she knew all those years ago. It hurt her to know that Thranduil was no longer a caring king that he once was. He was colder than she expected. That was probably the reason why she had fought him the way that she had.

"Aranduriel!" Legolas called for her. He was trying to catch up to her. He had to admit that she had to be strong with what she did. He didn't expect her to stand up to his father like that. And it was something that he was glad to see.

Aranduriel looked over her shoulder and saw Legolas running after her. Her dark brows raised in confusion. What was he doing? "Legolas?" She asked confused.

Legolas held the ring out in his hand. He wanted her to have it regardless of what his father had said. He would not force Aranduriel into a loveless marriage. Perhaps in due time she would fall in love with him and change her mind about him and perhaps marry him.

"Legolas… no…" She said trying to back away from him. She should've known that Thranduil was trying everything in his power to get his way.

"I am not asking you to marry me, Aranduriel." He said softly looking at her.

Aranduriel looked at the ring. "And why are you giving me this ring?" She asked him softly. Her voice was still very much laced over with confusion.

Legolas put it into her hand. "I had it made specially for you." He told her softly running his fingers lightly over the red rubies that were so delicately put into the ring. He knew that she loved the color red. "Even if you don't marry me, Aranduriel. This ring rightfully belongs to you."

Aranduriel ran her fingers lightly over it. She had to admit that it was a beautiful ring. She wasn't sure if she could accept such a gift, but she knew she was going to have to. After all he was her friend. But this would be a gift of friendship. She nodded her head. She was going to accept the ring that he was giving her. "Yes, I'll accept it."

Legolas smiled knowing that this was a good thing that she was accepting his gift. He was happy that she was accepting the gift. He just could only hope that his father wouldn't think the wrong thing now that she had the ring that he had made special for her.

Aranduriel put it onto her right ring finger.

Legolas picked up her hand and placed a kiss upon the ring. He smiled at her. "Keep it close to you. No matter what if you need something Aranduriel I will be there for you." He told her softly.

Aranduriel smiled and placed a soft kiss upon his cheek. She watched his cheeks color red. She knew that he was in love with her and there was no doubt that he would be able to live down the fact that she had said no to his proposal. Maybe one day he would find someone that he would really love. Not some spirit that he would be forever chasing after and never being able to catch. "I know Legolas." She said softly.

Legolas smiled a small sad smile. Yes, he was sad that she was not going to be his bride, but perhaps he would be able to still remain her friend. Which was a good chance that they were going to still be friends with one another.

Aranduriel saw the sad smile. "I am sure that you will find the person that you will be able to love and not a spirit that is too free to be anything, but a friend to you." She said softly. She rubbed her ivory clad arm sadly. "I am sure that there is someone here in the Greenwood that will be able to show you their feelings towards you."

Legolas nodded his head. "You stood up to my father."

Aranduriel nodded her head. "Yes, your father won't be pleased. It was something that had to be done. I knew that he was talking about us being together and that would never happen. I am sorry Legolas. I truly am sorry."

"Do not be." He said softly. "I knew that father was going to try to do something like this. I already kind of knew your place." He shook his head and crossed his arms knowing that it was true. "You would not want to marry. You would not want to be away from Rivendell."

Aranduriel nodded her head. "Yes, and Thranduil your father wouldn't approve. He knows that I am a half breed. Two races run through my blood and I can choose to either live eternal life or choose a mortal one." She ran her hand through her black hair.

Legolas let out a sigh. "I hope that we will be able to see each other soon."

"We will Legolas. If you ever venture out of the Greenwood I am sure that my father would be more than pleased to see you there in Rivendell."

"I will be sure to meet you in Rivendell sometime." He said with a smile.

Aranduriel smiled. "I should go." She said softly.

Legolas nodded his head and watched her go. He knew in a way he never really had a chance with her. She was something that he would not be able to reach her. She was the fire star of her people and very true to what her people called her. Maybe being friends was the best choice for the two of them.

Aranduriel looked at the ring now that was on her hand. She had to admit that Legolas put time in designing the ring. It was going to mean everything to her that was for sure. She should have known that Legolas had good taste in jewelry. She ran her fingers lightly over the ring. It was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen in her life. But it would not compare to the necklace that she wore around her neck that Thorin had given to her before she had left. So far she was happy that Thranduil wouldn't figure out that Legolas had given her the ring out of friendship. But she knew if she ever ran into him again that there would be a problem with that. She would get into another argument with Thranduil about Legolas and she was not willing to go into another argument.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Whew this is the longest one shot that I have ever written and I think it turned out quite well. It kind of got away from me a little bit, but I don't regret anything. I liked how it turned out. Aranduriel stood up the Thranduil and that is something that doesn't happen that often. I am actually kind of glad that the reviewer that got the correct answer for what Thorin had given to Aranduriel correct. It actually got me in the mindset of what will happen during the visit in Mirkwood and Thranduil and Aranduriel meet up once again. I have to say that I have a lot of ideas running around in my mind which is a good thing. I haven't had this many ideas crawling around in my mind in a long while. I can't wait to get to that part in the story. I am enjoying writing all of my stories. I hope to update soon The Second Daughter, but my next update will be for The Easterling Princess The Fellowship of the Ring. But hopefully you all enjoyed this one shot. I really had writing another side of Aranduriel and having her fighting with Thranduil. I hope that it will hopefully in a way turn up in The Second Daughter. Until next time.


End file.
